Shocked Twyford residents, who have banded together this week to protest against the closure of The Bugle, are still reeling after learning that another of the village watering holes is under threat.

The popular pub, which closed at the end of July, has now been boarded up and to make matters worse, across the road in Queen Street, Twyford Social Club is in trouble.

Trade has been steadily declining over the past 18 months and the trustees have now applied for planning permission to demolish the building and replace it with four semi-detached three-bedroom homes, although at the moment there are no immediate plans to sell the prime site.

"We are upset and shocked," said Angela Forder-Stent, vice-chairman of Twyford Parish Council. "I know we have a good pub at The Phoenix, but we are losing yet another amenity. The Bugle was a thriving business.

"We thought it was going to be converted into a chain pub, but the moment it was taken over, it was boarded up. It is quite an attractive building, but it is not looking very good at all now.

"All we can do is use people-power and shout about it," she added. "It is a particularly hard blow when there is a threat to the social club as well."

The application for Twyford Social Club has been lodged to give the 160 members, who all own a share in it, a fallback position in case the club goes under. "We are trying not to close the club, but the last 18 months have been really hard," said trustee, Charles Smith, who has been managing the finances.

"It has not been taking enough money to meet the bills each week and at Christmas we nearly had to close and borrowed to keep the club open. If we haven't got any money, we would be able to sell the club as a building plot and, rather than walking away, everyone would get a few shillings."

Winchester City Council planners will now consider the application and, if permission is granted, the social club will have five years in which to make the difficult decision whether to sell up or keep going.

Meanwhile, a question mark hangs over the future of The Bugle. "The tenancy has expired, so the pub has been closed for assessment and has been boarded up for health and safety reasons," said a spokesman for the New Milton-based Inntown Pub Company.

She confirmed that the company managed the pub until it closed, but would not comment on its future.